Observation start time: 06:00:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 10.5 hours
Official Counter: Bob Secatore, Paul M. Roberts, Ted Mara
Observers: John Cannizzo, Kathryn Chihowski, Mark Schoene, Paul Roberts, Steve Babbitt, Ted Mara
Visitors: Julie Roberts, Andrea Cannizzo, Dawn Beckman
Weather: Weak NMW winds for the first three hours then gave way to moderate winds out of the west. Mostly sunny skies broken by well spaced small but thick clouds meant that longer periods of fairly warm weather were punctuated by rather short colder ones.
Raptor Observations:
Another good day on Plum Island with 188 migrants counted, 143 of them Kestrels. We also enjoyed 18 Merlins flying through, five of them making a spectacular passage at low altitude, close to our platform and in just the right light during the 3 o'clock hour (see hourly note Paul Roberts' evocative description). Depending upon temperature and wind velocity, flight altitude of birds was either low or moderate to fairly high.
Raptors that failed to migrate: 3 BEs, 1 adult and 2 juv (one carrying an eel by the head), 5 NH including one adult male. Two very large (presumably female) Cooper's Hawks, both immatures, repeatedly flew southward into the refuge only to return northward back into the residential area of the island sometime later.
Non-raptor Observations: Birds: 2 Ravens, 11 Great Egrets, 5 Flickers.
Predictions: Weak N, NE, NNE and ESE winds temps in low 50s. Sunny and partly cloudy. Not very promising for our coastal location. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Robert Secatore (<rs8843829...>) Plum Island MA information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
